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WWE Smackdown Live Hits and Misses 8.13.19 w/ The Chairman

Summerslam has come and gone. Now it’s time to see what happens afterwards in Toronto. After a red hot Raw last night, can Smackdown Live follow it up?? Here are this weeks hits and misses.

MISS: Here Comes the Fines

Smackdown opened with Kevin Owens which was great, but unfortunately you knew what was coming. After KO declared his intentions on winning King of the Ring, Shane Meekman stunk up the place. Shane showed highlights of his loss to KO at Summerslam where KO kicked Shane in the nuts and basically degraded Owens calling him a cheater. Shane then decided to fine Owens 100,000 for laying his hands on Elias who was a ringside enforcer with a referee shirt. Clearly the WWE hates their fans and wants to continue on with this Shane McMahon story. Not a good start to a post Summerslam edition of Smackdown Live.

MISS: Ember Moon Eclipsed in Toronto

Since Shane McMahon sucked up the first fifteen minutes of Smackdown Live, the women didn’t get proper entrances. Ember Moon and Charlotte was advertised on Twitter and I already knew how this story was going to end. The match got respectable amount of time and was pretty decent. Ember Moon got in some good offense, but in the end it was Charlotte Flair coming out the winner with the Figure Eight. You have to go back and look at Ember Moon’s past few days in Toronto and they haven’t been good. Losing to Bayley in a championship match at Summerslam to losing to Charlotte on Smackdown Live. This could’ve been an opportunity to create a new star, but instead it looks like Ember remains in the B tier of women. Maybe Ember didn’t wrestle Charlotte tonight and wrestled someone else and just destroyed her to get some momentum back. Now it’s hard to get invested in Ember Moon regardless of good she is in the ring right now.

HIT: Daniel Bryan Says NO!

Despite having to see the Roman Reigns video package for the thirteenth time, we get to see Rowan sporting an awesome Hatebreed shirt. Daniel Bryan answers the allegations about him and Rowan being behind the Roman Reigns attacks. Bryan denied them and said Buddy Murphy gave up Rowan’s name just to give Reigns a name. Bryan then told everyone how they lie so much that it spreads on social media and ends up being believed as the truth. Bryan vowed later on the show that he’ll reveal what happened. Daniel Bryan is just as masterful on the mic as he is in the ring. When he speaks, you listen.

HIT: Buddy Murphy Finally Wrestles on Smackdown Live

If you didn’t see this match, go back and check it out. Buddy Murphy made his Smackdown Live in ring debut against Roman Reigns. I don’t need to give you the backstory on why this happened because I’m sure you seen it fourteen times. Sure Murphy got shafted his entrance, but he looked like a star. In what I thought would be a squash, clearly it wasn’t. Murphy got a fair amount of offense in and really made Roman earn the win tonight. Roman did spear Murphy in the end and Murphy sold the hell out of it. I really hope Buddy Murphy gets featured more often on Smackdown Live, he’s definitely earned it after that performance.

MISS: KO Victim to More Shane Shenanigans

Shane felt Owens needed to be taught a lesson so he decided to book a match between Owens and Samoa Joe. Joe didn’t like Owens thinking he was a badass so he wanted to make sure it was known he was the only badass. Shane wasn’t done though by making Elias the special guest ring enforcer again. Elias of course being the 24/7 Champion was protected by Shane so nobody could attack him. Typical match, nothing special. Owens got the Pop Up Powerbomb in, but Elias yanked out the referee. With the distraction, Joe got the pin and Elias fast counted the three. I would love to see a legit Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe feud, but I don’t need the Shane and Elias crap. Also obnoxious this storyline received another segment tonight where Smackdown Live has alot of things going on that won’t see the ring for another week.

HIT: Orton Joins the Revival to Face New Day

Originally it was Big E and Xavier Woods taking on The Revival. Randy Orton however had other plans and before the match confronted Kofi Kingston. He called Kofi a coward for running from him at Summerslam and offered to join the Revival if he wanted to join E and Xavier and make it a six man tag so here we are. The match was okay. Orton was focused on Kofi and the Revival managed to put Xavier Woods away with the Shatter Machine. After the match Orton hit the RKO on Kofi and then went around and hit Xavier and Big E with an RKO as well before hitting Kofi one more time with another RKO. Definitely a big moment for Orton and the Revival. Orton looks like a motivated badass thru this feud with Kofi and more than likely we’ll get another title match in the future. Revival more than likely propel themselves to a Smackdown Live Tag Team Championship match against New Day.

HIT: Roman Reigns Confronts Daniel Bryan and Rowan

After Bryan and Rowan confronted Murphy in the locker room earlier and made him admit he was liar, Roman Reigns wanted answers for himself so he went on a hunt for the duo. Roman confronted them right before the end of the show and Daniel Bryan told Roman that next week he will reveal the information he knows. It’s nice to see story progressing finally into something and maybe next week we’ll finally find out who attacked Roman Reigns.

Compared to Raw, Smackdown Live felt a little flat. Other than the breakout performance of Buddy Murphy, this was a episode worth skipping. More Shane McMahon garbage filled up a good chunk of the show and alot of it was committed to progressing the Daniel Bryan, Rowan, Roman Reigns saga. Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura was nowhere to be seen. Not even Smackdown Live Women’s Champion Bayley was anywhere to be seen. Just seemed like outside of a few wrestlers, there was nothing for anybody else. With that thanks for joining us on this action packed wrestling week at HTCWrestling and stick it here with us.

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Keep Calm & Watch Wrestling

The Hot Tag Wrestling Podcast brings you all the latest in the world of pro wrestling. Every week, Justin C, Cam and "The Chairman" Steven Vincent give you their thoughts on everything from WWE, AEW, NXT, New Japan and More! Whether it is the current product or a look back at pro wrestling's past, the Hot Tag Wrestling Podcast brings you the hottest takes in the pro wrestling podcast world!